Rosebank is set to change its face again.

The Galleria shopping centre near the Park Hyatt Hotel, which has been almost deserted and barely operational for the past few years, is to be converted into a 15-storey apartment block.

Old Mutual has plans to develop mixed apartment and office complexes in the area near the Zone.

This past week agents for The Galleria's owner handed the council an application to rezone the underground centre, which has less than half of its space occupied. The public has until June 28 to object.

Judy Stockhill, ward councillor for the area, said she would register as an objector even though she thought the concept was lovely.

One of the reasons Rosebank is successful is the mix of business and residential space. This residential project would make it even more of a 24-hour space.

And wouldn't it be fantastic if people didn't have to drive?

The property is a few minutes walk from the proposed site of the Gautrain station in Rosebank on the Oxford Road side of Mutual Square.

However, Stockhill said she was concerned about the effect that the building would have on traffic flow, about the loss of public parking, and the height of the building.

At 15 storeys, Stockhill said, the new building would be almost twice as tall as the Park Hyatt. Stockhill said Rosebank was Joburg's first business node outside the CBD and was designed, in 1972, to be human in scale with pedestrian walkways, low buildings and plenty of airy space between buildings.

She says she is concerned that a building of this height would be a departure from this plan and stick out on the Rosebank skyline.

The plan has the support of the Rosebank Management District, a local lobby group.

"It is a multi-use district; it will be good to have that additional residential component," said the organisation's manager, Jenny Alexander.

Property economist Francois Viruly also supported the proposal. "People are looking for sites that integrate home, work and play. Rosebank has the potential to offer that sort of thing," Viruly said.

The Galleria is owned by Navigator Property Investments. Metro's queries were referred to developer Gideon Coetzee, who said independent consultants were conducting a study into the effect the development would have on traffic.

As for any height objection, Coetzee said: "We are not going to build a skyscraper."

If plans are approved, Coetzee expects building to begin next year, with occupancy set down for 2007 or 2008.

The Galleria centre has been under lease to Shoprite Checkers Properties for 20 years.

The lease expires in September and the few remaining tenants have been given notice to vacate their premises by then.

One of the Gallerias tenant's, A Portas delicatessen, is now facing its fourth move since the deli first opened its doors in Pritchard Street, Joburg, 109 years ago.

Sunday Times